Craze mixes Fabriclive38

Triple-time DMC world champ DJ Craze cuts and scratches his way through B-more club, hip hop and drum'n'bass on the latest volume of the Fabriclive series.

Triple-time DMC world champ DJ Craze cuts and scratches his way through B-more club, hip hop and drum'n'bass on the latest volume of the Fabriclive series. Fabriclive38 arrives in February.

From the beginning, Craze, a.k.a Aristh Delgado, knew he wanted to be a DJ. “My mom always taught me I could do anything I put my mind to. So when she asked what I wanted to do with my turntables, I told her, ‘Be the best DJ in the world,’" explains Craze. But unlike many teenagers, Craze actually gave his ambitions his best shot. After blitzing his way through the regional and national DMC turntablist championships, Craze went onto to become world champion (the first of three times) snatching the crown from a fifteen-year-old A-Trak no less. The pair later went on to form the formidable battle crew The Allies. As a producer, Craze is also known for his battle 12" series 'Bully Breaks' as well as hip hop and drum'n'bass cuts on rated labels such as Chocolate Industries, Virus and Ninja Tunes.

These days Craze's sets are more club-focused. His 74-minute Fabriclive mix finds room for hip hop, booty house, electro, Baltimore club and even soul in amongst the turntable wizardry with cuts from Chromeo, Switch, Cool Kids, Bangers and Cash, and DJ Blaqstarr. Craze on his canon for Fabriclive, "I’m mixing up a lot of styles—I have some freestyle tracks on there, some bass tracks on there, I’m putting ‘Ho Fo Sho’ on there, I’ve got some hip hop tracks on at the beginning...I wanted it to be a dance, club, mixed up sound – but not mashup. It’s just more fun club stuff, some Klever stuff in there, some of Sinden’s stuff in there...and it’s all scratched up. I’ll try to do the whole turntablist thing. I can’t do a mix where it’s just tracks playing."

'Fabriclive 38' mixed by DJ Craze lands on the doorstep of FabricFirst members on February 2, 2008. It arrives in stores worldwide on February 11, 2008 save for those in the U.S, who have to hold out until March 11, 2008.

18 comments

Just listened to the mix until the end and thought it was fucking excellent, ok the old school miami bass tracks he drops about half way through are dated, but they still sound good. Highlights for me were 'Tuff Crew - My Part Of Town' Craze's DJ skills and the rhyme on the opening track ''call the boy Ricky Hatton cause he speaks with his hands' lol. 4 out of 5 for me.

quote:Posted by analordho fo sho is an amazing track though, is that an exclusive for the mix?

Here's what Craze said about it in an interview with Fabric:

"It's from the movie '40 Year Old Virgin.' It's something I made with my girl and one of her friends. I woke up one day and was like, "You know what.. I wanna start travelling with you more, let's do this Miami bass thing!" She's good on the mic, she knows how to carry a flow and she's fly as hell so we just thought, why not? It's gotten a good response, which I'm amazed about because it was just a joke! That's how things happen sometimes, you know... I might want to put it out myself, going the independent route."

I think that even if you are a fan of party mixes this one fell flat at the end...its ok to be a bit patchy, but this one had bad sections. It was especially accented because of the awesome energy of the intro, ho fo sho is an amazing track though, is that an exclusive for the mix?

I actually think the review description itself is quite good, I just think the rating is a bit too low and will deter people from actually checking it out. Like the reviewer agrees the first half is dope and should be listened to. Its just tough with these kinds of mixes because I don't know of very many that are truly solid all the way through...For example, I think the Diplo Fabric mix has some awesoms sections. Would love people to check it out but if it had gotten a 2 1/2 on because of some of the bad sections (Bombs Over Baghdad, the Ludacris tracks, the Cure section etc.) then people probably wouldn't check the good stuff on there (Gaiola Das Popuzadas, Model 500, Le Tigre etc.) Overall I'm not saying the reviewer is wrong, everything is based on opinion in the end. Just wanted to leave some comments so people maybe do end up giving this a few spins. Oh and if someone does know of mixes in this style that are legit for over 60 minutes pls hit us up with some names!

This is a well-written and very descriptive review that explains in detailed terms exactly how the release is flawed. You whingers just can't hack it when someone disses your precious music - take the hit. It's only someone's opinion, after all... All this insulting 'you just don't geddit' rubbish (when the review demonstrates the writer *does* get it) is just a cop out.

Why don't one of you Craze lovers paste in a counter review and/or explain why the mix is deserving of so much of your love?

Review is spot on, I loved tracks like Ho Fo Sho & Bonafied Lovin, but it falls apart half way through...By the time he dropped Earth, Wind & Fire it just reminded me to switch off and listen to Gilles P's indahouse CD2, ahh much better....

quote:Posted by Flynnyou just don't understand this kind of party culture.

That's not true. I am totally diz-own wit da partaaaaaaaaay (sub)cultcha. Just kidding. But I'm still certain Spank Rock and Craze didn't nail it on their respective FabricLives...overcalculated and eclectic for electic's sake are two descriptions that come to mind. Within the FL series Scratch Perverts' 22 and Diplo's 24 got the anything-goes party vibe down pretty nicely, but no one's done an A+ job of it yet.

Impossible? Probably not, just yet to come. There's definitely a place for party mixes a la Diplo's Pitchfork mix last October, the Radioclit and Goon & Koyote podcasts, etc. but that would be the internet, where they're free. I don't think FabricLive should get the same leverage since it's a CD series, part of a subscription for many people (like me) who have no say in what comes next. This trust in the "programmers" is part of the fun, but it can also amplify the bitterness felt if the mix sucks and you think:

quote:Posted by nickwarrenA waste of my £6.

Writing bad reviews for heavily flawed FLs like Craze's and Spank Rock's is what brings better ones in the future. Or at least, we hope so.